Counter-current interchanger.



C. H. SMOOT. COUNTER CURRENT INTERCHANGER. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6.1913. RENEWED JAN. 4, my.

Patented Aug. 21,- 1917.

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66mm #1 Inventor.-

Altty c. H. SMOO T. COUNTER CURRENT INTERCHANGER. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6,1913- RENEWED JANJ4I 1917.

Patentd Aug. 21, 1917.

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Atty

CHARLES H. snow, or nnwyonrr, n. Y.

COUNTER-CURRENT rnrnnonnnsnn.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented A g; 21, 191

Applicationfiled January .6, 1913, Seria11 To. 740,343. Renewed January .4, 1917. Serial No. 140,656.

a Z '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ci-IARLESTI. SMOOT, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented "certain new and useful Improvements in Counter- Current Interchangers, of which the following is a specification. 1i I a My invention relates to an interchanger in which an exchange, of heat is effected between counter-currents of air or other gas or fluid; more particularly in i an interchanger designed to be used for progressively coolinga supply ofcompressed air as a preliminary'stepto its liquefaction, either in whole or in part, bymeans of cold expanded air or the cold. vapor products obtained from the rectification and separation into its elements of previously liquefied air, although 1 it may be found equally available for many other purposes, l i i The objectlof the invention, is to provide an interchanger which can be easily and cheaply constructechand which is more etficient than the inter-changers heretofore used "because of the, greater extent of its conducting surfaces by which the interchange of heat, which is transmittedbothby radiation and by conduction, is largely effected.

' l Vith this object in view, my improved interchanger consists, broadly. stated, of I an insulated volute bank of adjoining heatinterchanging passages formed by and between two plates of suitable heat-conducting material, such as copper, which are suitably spaced apart and coiled in volute form with a packing of wool-felt or'other suitable nonconducting material between, the several turns of the coil to insulate each from the other, and a series of parallelypartition walls also of heat-conducting material, which divide thevolute space between the two plates into a series of longitudinal passages extend ing from theinner to the outer ends of the plates, alternating passages being connected together in one series andtheintermedlate passages in another series, by .means of manifolds or in any other suitable manner, both at their inner andouter ends.

For convenience in manufacture, I pre to the plates so as to increase the area of between the plates into a series of tubular conduits or passages, within the tubes, and a series of intermediate passages, between the tubes; and, when a current of air or other gas or fluid which is to be cooled or heated, as the case may be, is forced in one direction through one series of passages, the tubes for example, and the cooling or heating medium, through the intermediate passages, in an opposite direction, the exchange of heat takes place both by radiation through the. thin walls of the tubes which alone throughout their length separate the adjoining passages and by conduction in and through the walls of the tubes and the plates which have been made practically continuous.

The interchanger is quickly and easily made by placing a series of straight tubes between two flat plates and soldering them in position, each tube to both plates or for convenience alternate tubes to each of the and surround the manifold connecting the tubular conduits and which if desired may be made large enough to contain an expansion motor or other liquefying device or both liquefying and rectifying apparatus, maybe made to serve as a cylinder or drum upon which the coil is wound. The entire interchanger coil, is preferably insulated from the atmosphere and protected by a suitable outer packing and easing The construction willbe understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which one embodiment of the invention is illustrated and in which Figure 1' is a sectional view of an inter changer and surrounding cylindrical casing on the line 1 1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a section, partially broken away, on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a broken detail, partly in section, showing the manifolds secured to soj sol

the inner ends of the plates and tubes and, the way in which the winding of the coil isbegun; and Fig. 4:, a broken detail, showing tubes, plates, and a sheet of insulating material as arranged preparatory to rolling them up into a coil. r Similar reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several figures.

As here illustrated, the plates 1 and 2 and the tubes 3, placed between and secured in-position in contact with the plates, form a coiled bank of alternating tubular conduits 4; and intermediate passages 5, and a non-conducting packing 6 insulates. the turns of the coil from each other and the entire coil from the outside atmosphere. The inner and outer ends of thetubes are open to and connected'together by the manifolds Tand 8, respectively, and in'simila'r manner the inner and outer ends of the intermediate passages are respectively opened to and connected together by the manifolds 9 and 10.- The cylindrical casing 11, which surrounds the coil, is split along one side to form an opening through which the outer ends of the plates ZLIiCllnClOSBCl tubes project, and its ends are closed by heads 12, only one of which is shown. Any suitable connections may be provided by which to supply to" the manifold 8 and withdraw from the manifold 7 the air, gas, or other fluid which is to be cooled or heated, as the case may be, and by 'whichthe cooling or h'eating medium is supplied to the manifold 9 and withdrawn from the manifold 10.

It will, of course, be understood that the device may be variously modified in its details, within the "scope or the appended claims, withoutdeparting from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention. t

that I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is V 1. In apparatus of the character "described, an insulated volute bank of adjoining heat interch'anging passages formed by and between two plates of heat-conducting lirat erial which arejspa'ced apart and coiled in volute form with a; packing of non-con- "du'ctin'g materialbetween th'e several turns of the coil, an'd'a series of parallel partltlon walls of heat-conducting material which divide the volute space between the plates into longaadmn passages extending from the inner to the outer ends of the plates. In apparatus of the character denames bf this fiatentmay be obtained for of heat-conducting material dividing the insulated volute space between 'the plates longitudinally into a bank of adjoining passages, and means connecting alternate passages together in one series and intermediate passages in another series both at their inner and outer ends.

3. A counter current interchanger comprising two plates of heat-conducting material spaced apart and coiled in volute form, a series of tubes of heat-conducting material extending longitudinally between and in contact with the plates and forming therewith a volute bank ofalternating tubu' lar conduits and intermediate passages, and a heat insulating packing separating the turns of the coiled plates and tubes from each other. I 4. A countercurrent inter-changer. comprising a volute bank of alternating tubular ing material longitudinally between and in contact with two plates of heat-conducting.

material and coiling the plates and inclosed tubes in volute form, a packing of heat-insulating material between the turns of said coil, and manifolds connecting togctherthe tubular conduits and intermediate passages, respectively, both at the inner and outer ends of the coil. v

5; A counter-current interch-anger comprising two plates of heat-conducting material spaced apart and coiled in volute form, a series of tubes of heat'conducting material extending longitudinally between and in conductive relationship with the plates and forming therewith a volute bank of alternating tubular conduits and intermediate passages, manifolds respectively connecting together the ends of the tubular conduits andthe intermediate passages both at the inner and outer ends of the coil, a heat-insulatingpacking separating the several turns of the coil from each other, and an outer casing"insulatedfroin and inclosing the coil. 1 I 1 A CHARLES H. SMOOT. Witnesses:

ALFRED E. SMITH, 'LnoNcn'L. BATTER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 26f Patents, 1 washington, 1). 0." I 

